From [HERE] A Black Kansas City neighborhood leader says she was racially profiled by an Independence police officer, who she says used excessive force during a traffic stop last month.

Rachel Riley was pulled over on October 4. The 57 year old has been president of Kansas City’s East 23rd St. Pac Neighborhood Association for eight years. She’s been involved with the organization for two decades.

According to Riley, Officer Brett Schmidli reached into her truck, pulled her out and slammed her against the vehicle.

“My face just bounced,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday recounting the incident. “I’m going ‘What did I do? What did I do?’”

She was arrested and taken to jail on a railroad crossing violation and failing to have insurance information. A police report also lists interfering with police.

A court records check shows no charges have been filed. On Thursday, protesters plan to gather in Independence to express their outrage. “What we’re saying is stop the racial profiling,” Riley said.

“Stop the racism. Stop the discrimination.”

Officer Jack Taylor, a spokesman for IPD, said answers about Riley’s allegations concerning racial bias “would come from an internal investigation and to this date, there has not been a complaint made to initiate that investigation.”

He said the officers participate in annual training on racial profiling and bias. ”The Independence Police Department does not permit racial profiling or racial bias when deciding to take law enforcement action in a given incident,” Taylor said.

According to an Independence Police Department report, Schmidli saw Riley go through a railroad crossing as the warning arms started to move down. He activated emergency equipment and she stopped.

“I observed the driver appeared somewhat sluggish or tired,” the police report said. She didn’t have identification on her, but he was able to confirm the driver as Riley, the police report said. It also said she was “irritable during the stop and did not appear to want to speak much with me.”

He wrote the summons and called for backup. He and another officer asked Riley to exit the vehicle so they could check her eyes to make sure she was not impaired.

The police report said Riley was uncooperative and stated she feared for her safety. “I grabbed on her right arm and pulled her from the front seat,” the police report said.

A computer check came back with no warrants. Schmidli wrote in his report that he was unable to administer a field sobriety test because Riley was uncooperative.

She was taken to the detention center. The officer’s report said he gave Riley 20 commands during the encounter including warnings that she would be arrested if she did not comply.

Riley said she was stunned the traffic stop escalated from a ticket to being grabbed out of the vehicle and taken to jail. She also said she was violently searched in sensitive areas by a female officer.

“I’m going ‘Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?’” she said. After she was slammed into the vehicle, she said she just started praying to God.

In the weeks since, she has felt traumatized and found it difficult to drive without being afraid. She believes her civil rights and due process rights were violated. “We want justice,” Riley said.

The police department stops, searches and arrests Black drivers at a disproportionate rate, according to a report released earlier this year by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. That data showed in 2021, Black motorists accounted for 18% of all traffic stops. Missouri is 11.8% Black, according to the U.S. Census. Black and Hispanic drivers were searched 8.5% and 7.9% of the time, respectively, compared to 6.8% of white motorists.